Finding You II
by MysticPuma
Summary: Raven had to find Lucius... (crappy summary, it's a sequel to Finding You, but can stand alone :) Please read, I know the summary is lame!)


**AN: Okay, although this is TECHNICALLY a sequel to "Finding You", it may be read as a stand-alone piece, because it's basically just from Raven's POV... So yeah XD**

**(warning: this is me, therefore there are small suggestions that they are more than friends... but really it's very thin and if you wanna read it as just close friends, I think you could)**

**Again, I wrote this in a car... On the 8 hour drive home from Scotland. I wrote it straight after writing the first Finding You, and it's double the length, taking me about 3 hours to write XD I still had like 3 hours to occupy myself with afterwards BLECH... Yeah, I'm worried Raven might be a tad OOC at some point, PLEASE FORGIVE ME!**

**So yeah! Finding You II**

**I never really put disclaimers, cuz I thinks its pretty obvious I don't own the Fire Emblem series...**

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**Finding You II**

"Lucius, run! Run as far as you can! I'll lead them away! Don't look back, okay?" he commanded the dainty acolyte, before pushing him away and running to get the ruffians' attention. He spared a single glance over his shoulder to see Lucius disappear into the forest. Good. He should be safe in there. Now, to deal with these fools.

"Come on then! Do your worst!" he taunted the men in black. He turned away again, turning his full attention back to running, and a ball of dark magic flew past him, barely missing his head. _Crap, shaman! If only Lucius were still here…_ But he had no time to dwell on it. He had to live. He had two choices. Fight, and risk dying at the hands of their skills magicians and strong axe-hands, or run and risk never finding anywhere safe, tiring out before he could, or just being killed by one of the flux spells that was being hurtled at him.

He drew his sword and turned to face his enemies.

He refused to die now. He had to live on. He had to find Lucius, and continue his quest for revenge. He would _not_ die now. He charged at the nearest Shaman, and ran him through in one clean blow. The element of surprise certainly had its uses. They had not expected him to turn. That had given him a temporary advantage. Now it was even playing, and he suddenly noticed it was ten to one.

He felt a small feeling creep into his stomach. Fear. He pushed it down. He couldn't let fear dominate him now. That could only lead to disaster. So instead, he focussed on his reason to fight. Lucius. He had to find the monk. He wasn't strong enough to take care of himself. If he was alone, h wouldn't last.

As he struggled with the men, he kept the thought of his friend in his mind, fanning the flames that kept him fighting as he plunged his sword into the men one by one. Finally, only one remained. A strong-looking shaman with a Nosferatu tome.

Raven, by this point, was running out of steam. He knew he wouldn't last much longer. But he pretended he wasn't tired.

"You think you can beat me?" he announced, pointing his sword towards the man.

"Heheh. You may have beaten those lackeys. But you will not defeat me. This tome can suck the very life out of you." The man chuckled darkly. His voice was cracked and too high, making the dark figure far creepier. But Raven stayed strong.

"Well good luck to it, cause it's got it's work cut out with me!" and he launched himself towards the shaman, swinging his blade around. But it was dodged quickly and the shaman raised his hand. Raven slid out of the way of the tendrils of deep purple that snaked towards him, pushing off from the ground to run at the shaman again. This time, his sword cut into the man's side. But he still cast the spell.

Raven couldn't dodge this time. The snaking purple flames stabbed through him, pausing briefly, before punching out of him again. There was no mark, no tear in his clothes, but as they left him, he felt himself weaken substantially. It felt like blood had been sapped from his veins, and he felt very drowsy all of a sudden. His stomach lurched and he had to use his sword to stay standing. He watched, awe-struck, as the tendrils hurried back to their master, converging on his wounded side, and the blood that had begun to ooze from the wound evaporated. He'd healed himself with Raven's energy!

Raven growled at him ferally and the man let out a cackle.

"You see? If you hurt me, I will simply heal myself! You cannot win!" he cried. Shaking now, from the exertion of standing, Raven made a decision that he never usually even gave a second glance. He ran.

His pride was not as important as his life. Lucius had taught him that. And Lucius was why he had to live. Fighting this man would only lead to his death, and then where would Lucius be? Alone. Fending for himself on a lonely road to nowhere. Raven would not abandon his only friend so quickly. Lucius had been there when no one else was. Lucius was all he had left in this world, and Raven refused to lose him.

He did not know how far or for how long he ran. But when he finally looked over his shoulder, the man was not there. Either he hadn't followed him, or he had decided it wasn't worth it. It was clear he'd thought of his men as only pawns, not people, so he thought not of revenge. Raven ignored the coil of disdain that was tight in his stomach for the group. Now he had no idea where Lucius was. They could be days away from each other, and they had absolutely no way of contacting or finding each other.

Raven collapsed at the side of a path, breathless and exhausted. His throat was barren as the Nabata desert, and his clothes were bloodied and frayed at the edges. He slept in the dirt for several hours, unable to move and find a better place to rest.

When he awoke, the effects of the spell had worn off, and his strength was already returning. The sword, still in his hand, was covered in blood, and the stench was making him sick. He pushed himself off the ground and stood, using the front of his coat to wipe the sword clean. He then sheathed it and pulled his pack around so he could search through it. The remainders of some deer meat were nestled at the bottom. He remembered catching the beast quite vividly.

Lucius had stunned the deer with his magic, also allowing Raven to get closer in the temporary flash of bright light, upon which point Raven had driven his sword into the deer's gut. Lucius had muttered a quiet prayer under his breath for the animal. Raven had never understood the need, but he did not object. It gave Lucius peace of mind, and they'd argued over the matter far too much in the past for anything he said about it now to make one bit of difference to the young acolyte.

They had split the meat between them. So Raven knew Lucius at least had food to keep him going. That was of some comfort to him as he ate the meat slowly, savouring it. He would have to hunt alone. It wasn't impossible, but it was definitely more difficult without Lucius' magic to stun the animals.

He pushed that from his mind and he started into a nearby wood. It wasn't long before he'd successfully caught a small deer, so he spent that day cooking it, and drying its hide for other things. Another thing Lucius had taught him, was how to use the animal to its best. Admittedly, Raven wasn't very good at that. He used the meat and the hide, and the rest was usually just left to rot. Lucius could find ways to utilise the bones, organs, and the fur.

Raven often struggled to remember that Lucius was older than him, but when he remembered the many lessons he'd learnt from the older man, he remembered. Others didn't have that advantage when trying to work out their ages. Of course, it was a frequent mistake made that Lucius was Raven's younger sister… Raven would send a glare their way, before Lucius politely explained that he was actually several years Raven's elder, and male. They always took some convincing. They could never quite be bothered to argue that they weren't related though…

After he'd finished with the deer meat, he stashed it all away, eating a small part to keep him going, and he set off. It was just becoming dawn, and Raven had been completely unable to sleep from worry over Lucius' safety. If the monk knew of his worry, he would most certainly fold his arms and insist he could take care of himself in that indignant voice he'd only ever used on his friend. Raven chuckled a little at the thought.

After a few days walked, as noon approached, he reached a town on the border of Caelin. It was far more bustling than a simple small town such as it was should really have been, even at noon. Something had the townsfolk excited. He walked over to one of the smaller groups of gossipers, though there was still a substantial number among them, and asked what had the town so excited.

"Oh, haven't you heard? A young girl from Sacae is laying claim to the throne of Caelin!" a young woman explained, shocked that this man hadn't heard. "It's all over Lycia!"

"I 'eard she's an imposter!" argued a man. "Two renegade knights want ta overthrow the Marquess, so I 'eard!"

"Nonsense! Kent and Sain are the most loyal knights of the whole army! My brother's trained with them!"

"How do you know he ain't on their side!?"

"Where are they now?" Raven asked, desperate to stop the argument before it escalated further and his opinion was asked.

"I heard they were entering Khathalet just yesterday."

_Khathalet! They'd been in Khathelet when the men in black had attacked…_

"I 'eard they been ambushed by that Black Fang lot! Surely that proves she's rotten!" the man insisted.

"I don't think so… I don't think the Fang were after the girl. They were after someone else, and she got caught up."

"She should be dead by now anyway, them Black Fang are tough."

"Black Fang…?" Raven finally inquired.

"Yes… They're a group of assassins. They usually go after bad nobles and people like that, but I don't know… They seem a bit more free in who they target now."

"The point is, they be real strong. They ain't like others. They can cut ya down soon as look at ya. They gots a lot of them shaman an' druids to boot." Raven started.

"Wait, what? Shaman? Hang on… Do they wear all black?"

"Yeah, well they're the black fang ain't they?" the man retorted patronisingly.

"I've fought them… My friend and I were travelling through Khathalet when a few stragglers of the group ambushed us. They must have thought we were a part of that group!" he exclaimed.

"And you survived!? Wow!"

"Barely… The lackeys are easy pickings. It's the bosses. The shaman are tough… I had to run…"

"You still survived." The man said. "That's pretty impressive. I reckon those idiots are dead by now though… I just feel sorry for the poor dastards she's taken with 'er."

"They can't be dead, can they? There were quite a lot of them, you know? I mean, if this guy can take them on alone…" the first woman argued.

"Why, who's with her?" Raven asked.

"Uh… I heard… Well, obviously there's Kent and Sain… they head Caelin's caveliers. Um… Some fighter from a Bern village, an Ostian Cleric and her escort, a mage I think… Oh, the girl's friend the Pegasus knight… A young boy, I think he's an archer…I think there's a theif and a nomad too…" the woman listed. "I think there are a couple of others, but I can't remember…"

"There's a flute-player, some kid. And this prissy little monk fellow." Raven's heart stopped.

"A prissy monk did you say?" he asked quickly.

"Yeah. What of it?"

"What else do you know about him? Tell me!" he yelled.

"Woah there, buddy. Calm down!"

"No! That monk is important, tell me what you know!" Raven bellowed, rage building in him. As he pushed the man against a wall, his hand on the hilt of his sword.

"Hey! Hey!" one of the other women cried. "Stop!" she pulled Raven back from the man roughly, and he shrugged her away.

"Hmph. I'll find them on my own." He muttered, and stormed away, a steely expression on his face. There was a stunned silence in the group as they took in what had just happened. Raven marched alone through the streets, trying to find more information by eavesdropping, but nothing was of use.

He went on like that for weeks, travelling and searching. But he never came across them. He found himself in Araphen, and was enraged when told they'd not been seen there since the fire at the castle, which was weeks ago.

So he made his way back towards Khathalet, and though he grew more and more agitated, his resolve did not waver. Although he'd never admit it to anyone, even Lucius, Raven felt strangely lonely without his constant companion, and the two months they'd now been apart had not served to ease that feeling, only make it more prominent.

While Raven travelled, the Lady Lyndis defeated Lundgren, and news reached Raven over a week later as he entered Khathalet once again.

"Excuse me." He called to a shop-keeper.

"Yes, sir? What can I do for you?"

"Do you sell Vulneraries?"

"Indeed I do, sir. Vulneraries and magic is my game." The shop-keeper replied with a smile. When he heard magic, Raven gulped. Lucius…

"Can I have three vulneraries please?" he resisted the overwhelming urge to buy a light magic tome…

"That'll be 300 gold then, please."

As Raven rummaged in his pack for the money, he took his opportunity to ask.

"Hey, do you know anything about that… princess of caelin? Where are her group now?" he asked, placing the money on the counter.

"Oh, you don't know? They won! Beat that dastard Lundgren into the ground, about a week ago now." The shop-keeper announced, happily.

"Really?" Raven feigned interest and excitement. Really, he only cared about getting Lucius back, but if this was the way to do it, so be it.

"Yeah, brilliant eh? Most of the guys that went with her are either stickin' around as part of the army, or they're disappearing." The man explained. Raven nodded as he took the vulneraries.

"What about the monk? Do you know if he's still there?"

"What, the one that looks all girly?" Raven resisted the urge to punch him in the face at that moment. He was getting very annoyed with people's misunderstandings over Lucius' gender. "I dunno really… He's not joined the army, so far as I know…" he shrugged.

"Okay. Thank you. Goodbye." Raven said.

So Lucius hadn't joined the army. He was probably too kind to just up and leave like the others, but Raven liked to think he'd be missing him. _Gods, did I just think that?_ He berated himself. He finally decided that he'd make his way to the place they first got separated, then work his way towards Caelin from there.

It took him a few days to reach the village near to where they had become separated, and he was tiring of travelling alone. But kept himself marching.

Lucius would not give up. He knew that. He would hold faith in his silly St. Elimine and press on, believing whatever happened to be the divine path that he was supposed to take. That was both endearing and annoying… Raven had never questioned Lucius' faith. He could believe what he wanted to, and it was his job as an Elimine Monk to spread the word of her religion. But Raven was not a religious person. Of course, he knew that St. Elimine was one of the eight generals, but that didn't mean he had to follow her 'divine wishes'.

As the sarcastic thoughts bubbled inside him, he heard rustling from the woods. He hurried in after it to pursue the cause of the noise, treading carefully so as not to reveal his own presence.

He saw the glint of an axe as he followed the assumed bandit through the trees. They were quite deep in the forest now, but Raven kept on the man's tail.

Eventually they seemed to move more towards the outer edges of the forest, and the man was gone, out onto the plains, apparently spotting a target. For a lone bandit, whoever they'd targeted couldn't be very strong; likely a woman, or farmer. Raven hurried after him, following a flash of bright light, dodging tree branches and roots as best he could, when through the trees, he saw the bandit, in his muddy brown hide clothing, running after something and he turned his gaze to find who he was chasing. Raven's heart dropped into his stomach…

Blue Robes… Blonde hair… and arms clasped tightly around a book.

"Lucius!" he called, but the monk could not hear him, too fearful for his life. Raven charged from the woods as the bandit went to take a swing at Lucius. He drew his blade and the two weapons clashed with a loud CLINK. Behind him, Raven heard Lucius fall to the ground, and though he wanted to rush to his aid, he had to finish this brigand off first.

Dodging the slow swing of his axe, Raven swung around to stab the bandit swiftly in the back. A simple enough enemy, and Lucius had clearly caused some damage, as that flash of light was most likely from the tome he'd been carrying.

Withdrawing his sword from the man, he watched the brigand collapse limply to the ground at his feet. He quickly sheathed his sword and rushed over to Lucius, who had already lost consciousness.

"Oh, Lucius… You stupid fool." He sighed, a sad smile on his face. "I found you… It's going to be okay now." He said, hooking his arms under the monk's frail body to lift him up. He was so fragile, so precious. Raven brushed a strand of hair from Lucius' face carefully as he carried the monk away from the path to a clearing where he set up a small camp. No tent, just a fire.

He switched between watching Lucius sleep, and watching the flames flicker and dance before him. As night fell around them, and the fire became the only source of light, Raven saw Lucius stirring in the corner of his eye. He moved his hand, and his eyes flickered delicately open. He sniffed, his eyes moved. Raven smiled a little.

"I see you're awake." The look of shock on Lucius' face said to him that the monk had passed out before seeing him earlier. That, or he didn't really believe it was him. "How do you feel, Lucius?" he asked gently. He wouldn't get a response…

"L-Lord… Raym-" Lucius' voice was raspy, and he was cut off by a series of particularly violent coughs, which made Raven wince every so slightly. He forced himself to ignore the way Lucius addressed him. The man had just realised who he was. It was recognition. Besides, Lucius had been through quite the ordeal, and Raven had missed him far too much to start correcting him already.

He kept his gaze focussed on the flames, giving Lucius time to get himself into a sitting position to face him. He took that moment to stoke the fire a little, conscious that Lucius, frail as he was might get cold. But he didn't seem to care about the temperature. A huge smile had appeared on his face. Raven turned his head a little to smile at him too, hoping it was enough to tell the acolyte how much he'd missed him.

"You… You're okay… You found me…" Lucius whispered, still a little raspy, but improving with each word. Raven wasn't quite prepared for what happened next, but he really didn't mind. It was nice to have his silly, overemotional friend back in one piece. "Oh… Oh Lord Raymond!" Lucius cried, and Raven had to do everything within his power to stay upright, as Lucius flew at him to hug him, beginning to sob. "Oh thank Elimine you're alright!" There he went again. Raven smiled. It was definitely good to have Lucius back. He ignored the name… He ignored the religion… He ignored it all.

"Lucius, you fool. Worry about yourself. Travelling on your own, you could have got yourself killed." He snapped, a little too harshly. Sighing, he reached an arm around Lucius to pat him gently on the back. "I'm glad you're safe." He whispered then, and he let his head fall to rest on Lucius' as the monk drifted back to sleep. "I'm never going to let you go again, Lucius… Stay with me… Never worry me like that again."

He knew that Lucius was asleep, that just made it easier to say things he would never say when they were both conscious.

Raven was happy for Lucius to cling to him tightly. He wasn't tired, because Lucius was safe, and he would stay awake to ensure that didn't change. He was content to just sit there, listening to Lucius breath, the fire crackle, and the odd cricket chirp. It was calm, peaceful, and he felt complete for the first time since they'd been separated.

If he was to ever let Lucius go off alone again, it would only be when their situation was dire… If not, this monk was not leaving his side.

He even deigned to plant a gentle kiss on the blonde head of his friend, but did not entertain the idea of more…

All he needed was his friend. His Lucius.

They were both at peace again.

They had found each other.

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**Yeah, you can read into it, but if you prefer friendship, there's no need :) Hope you all liked it guys!**


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